Welcome to the Spanish Group at LLORG! This thread is open to anyone and everyone who is learning Spanish, has learned Spanish already, is interested in Spanish or speaks Spanish as a native language. This group is not a "challenge". People are free to come and go as they please, to "drop-in" and "drop-out" whenever they may wish. First and foremost it is a place to post your questions, ask for help, write about your successes, your setbacks, your joys and your frustrations- all under the banner of Spanish. Tell us what you are enjoying in books, television, music, films and podcasts. Tell us what you are looking for, too. There is no formal membership requirement. All are welcome, regardless of level, to post and share, and I hope that you do so often. This is not my thread... it's your thread... it's your Spanish group!

TAC (Total Anhilation Challenge) has been a part of the forum for a long time. A study group is basically what TAC does without the challenge. The challenge in a study group is within yourself. TAC is limited to one calendar year, closed off to the initial sign-up members and typically dies off by mid-February or dwindles down to a very few members, after the excitement of joining and choosing a "cool" name has worn off. Ogrim suggested the formation of "study groups" with an open membership and no time limit. This Group will hopefully be self-sustaining. Other than updating posts here on the first page, I pretty much will be out of the way. It's your thread to talk about everything related to learning Spanish.

A few things to keep in mind:

1) Please follow the forum rules when posting. I have no power to police this but the moderators do and they will if you run afoul of the rules.

2) Be especially careful when posting links to resources and videos. Our administrator is based in the UK and subject to UK law. Copyright law is stringent there as well as libel law. If you think something might run afoul of this, think twice before posting it and ask a moderator in a private message.

3) Try to make it a point to start a log if you are a beginner and to follow other Spanish-learners' logs as well. Not everybody has the time to do this but it does help to see what others in a similar situation to you are doing. Much of the discussion about learning is taking place in the log section but it is hard to find all the tips hidden in there, which is one reason why this group is forming. If you think something you are doing or using will help others- Please Share It Here!

4) Posting in Spanish- this is not a thread explicitly for learners or second language-speakers of Spanish to practice their Spanish. There are better places to do that, like lang-8. You can write all in Spanish in the Español Only forum room or in your log- but remember, as a general rule, the forum isn't such a good place to get quality correction in a second language. Most of the speakers of an L2 are second language-speakers. Most second language-speakers don't necessarily feel comfortable doing this. Native-speakers aren't here for this reason either, though if any choose to drop by from time to time and offer their help here in any way, it will be greatly appreciated. The thread is for everyone at all levels. We don't want beginners to feel lost or unwelcome. If you post in Spanish, please provide at least a synopsis in the forum language- English, especially if you write more than a few sentences in Spanish.

5) Most importantly- please be kind to each other.

For general information on language-learning, please see the learn any language wiki. You may also ask in the general language discussion of the forum. Much of language learning is shared in common across languages. You can also learn a lot from reading and following other more experienced learners' logs- even if they aren't learning the same language(s) as you are. This is one of the secrets to getting the most out of the forum.

Resources:I intend to provide a list of curated resources- resources that can be vouched for as useful. For now, beginners and learners can go to member Reineke's thorough, though not exhaustive, post on Spanish resources. For a big language like Spanish, there are a ton of resources available, no list could everr be considered exhaustive and that is not the point of this section.

Advanced LearnersFor more advanced learners and second language-speakers of Spanish- you know what a wonderful feeling it is to be able to speak, read and listen to this language. A lot of people here, like myself, are "forum alumni"- people who have learned the language (or improved a language) through the help of the forum- going back to the prior forum at HTLAL. To those of us whom so much has been given, we have a responsibility to give back. That's one reason I've started this group. Advanced learners/second language-speakers, this is your group too. I still learn something every day in Spanish and probably always will. We can help each other as well as those at lower levels.

Finally, expect this post to be edited multiple times as this group evolves. I see this space as a place that welcomes all Spanish-learners, Spanish-speakers and those interested in the language. It is my hope that everyone will find something useful here. Again, welcome to the Spanish Group. Let's make it happen! ¡Vámanos pa'lante!

Last edited by iguanamon on Tue Dec 20, 2016 11:09 pm, edited 10 times in total.

James29 wrote:For a while I've wanted to start a thread for reviews and recommendations of telenovelas and series in Spanish. When you finish a telenovela or series please come here and give us your review and recommendation. I'd like to try to avoid movie reviews and reviews of series that are dubbed. ...

It's a place to talk about, review and get recommendations for series and telenovelas in Spanish.

NoManches wrote:I stole the title from James29's awesome thread about Spanish telenovela recommendations.Over the years I've spent hours looking for good podcasts in Spanish, and although I have come across some good ones, it has taken a lot of effort to find them. I'm not sure if this thread will be really popular or not, but I'm hoping to share some of my favorites and get some good recommendations in return. Also it seems like most of the searches I've done for Spanish podcasts come back with the same returns over and over again: a list of podcasts for learners ...and oh yea.. Radio Ambulante (which IS an awesome podcast). I'm hoping to share (and get) some different material in this thread...

Last edited by iguanamon on Wed Nov 14, 2018 2:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

PodcastsThese are podcasts intended for native-speakers. I don't have time to provide links if people don't do that in their posts. Please don't assume that everybody uses iTunes when you share podcasts. That being said, I know it's hard to find links (especially if you only know it through iTunes) and go through the hassle of formatting them in a post... so... I'll still list them without a link. People who don't use iTunes can always try searching by name of podcast followed by the word "podcast". It would also be helpful to others to include a brief description of what the podcast is about, where it's from and its length, so please do that. I will update this list periodically as more people share their recommendations. Please follow forum rules in posting your links about material. I ask for a description also because I don't want to be posting to some audio that may have hate speech or be contrary to people's sensibilities. With a description, folks can judge for themselves whether or not they want to listen. I don't have the time to do this for you, so please help me!

From member iguanamonDemocracy Now en Español US and international news translated from English with a left of center/progressive slant. It has an accurate transcript for listening while reading. Parallel texts can be made by going to the English site. Available on weekdays (updated US afternoons- weekdays) 15 minutes with 30 minute week in review on Saturdays and special topic podcasts too- all with accurate transcripts.Amnistía Internacional Podcast. Weekly podcast from Spain on Saturday- varies in length from as little as 3 minutes to as long as 20 minutes, with an accurate transcript- again, left of center.NHK World Noticias en Español Daily newscast 12-15 minutes long with accurate transcript from Japan (Native speakers, varied accents). Transcript can only be read by clicking each individual story and opening the audio in a new tab. Straight-up news from a Japanese perspective- dry but useful due to the transcript. RFI (France) Noticias International news with a focus on France, Latin America and Europe. More of a magazine with a short 5 minute straight-up news followed by a press review and features including music, culture, the environment, science, etc. Enjoyable and varied format with varied, native-speaker accents from Latin America and Spain. 30 minutes in length. dailyRadio Ambulante Features of topical interest from all over Latin America and the Spanish-speaking US. It has accurate transcripts, most with an English translation- about 18 minutes in length. WeeklyNómadas (RTVE- Spain) Travel, with an audio visit to a country or city exploring interesting facets of life, culture and tourism there. A vast archive is available. Podcast is almost an hour long and quite enjoyable if you're interested in travel and other cultures. Radio Nacional de España A la carta All of Spanish National Radio- everything under the sun- politics, culture, music, books, film, sports. La Tremenda Corte "La Tremenda Corte" was a pre-revolutionary Cuban radio show (comedy) with a regular cast. The situation is that of a trial where José Candelario "Tres Patines" is always being accused of something, una estafa generalmente/usually a scam. The plaintiffs are always Rudesindo Caldeiro Escobiña and Luz María Nananina. El Señor Juez y su Secretario open the show with El Señor Juez usually talking about his health. Despite its age, it is still funny and relevant- timeless comedy and a great way to get used to Cuban Spanish. If you can understand Tres Patines, you can listen to anything in Spanish! Click "episodios" to listen/download. You can listen to the archive here: La Tremenda Corteivoox The mother lode of Spanish language audio! It includes every topic you can imagine plus some audiobooks once broadcast on Spanish radio. If it's been broadcast on Spanish radio- it's here. There's even a mobile app available.From member NoManchesthe Managers Podcast (nombre es en inglés pero es 100% en español) - MX [looks to beself explanatory]Buenos Dias America (Voice of America) - United States (various Spanish accents are heard) [News and features- weekdays]Te Invito Un Café - The Dominican Republic (but with a slow, VERY easy to understand Spanish. I recommend this for beginners and intermediates!) [From ivoox: "El podcast Te Invito un Café es un espacio de crecimiento y desarrollo personal que te sacará de tu rutina habitual y te motivará a que te enfoques en todo lo que siempre has deseado lograr. En cada episodio Robert Sasuke te facilitará las mejores herramientas para iniciar cada día con las baterías recargadas y con mucho ánimo, así como estrategias para mejorar tu día y tu vida. Puedes conocer más sobre este y otros proyectos de Robert Sasuke a través de su blog: http://www.robertsasuke.com"Seems to be a podcast about growth and personal development to help people "recharge their batteries". From member Hundetierhttp://www.podclub.ch/sendungen/a-mi-aire-sp is a podcast with transcripts and vocabulary help for intermediate learners klvik: This podcast for learners (A2-B1) in radio diary format discusses culture and travel from the perspective of the broadcaster. New episodes of 10-15 minutes appear every 2 weeks and accurate transcripts are available on the website. Peninsular Spanish.(A2/B1). Alicia, a reporter from Madrid, talks about her life in Zurich, cultural habits and differences, her sister moving to Cuba and ongoing topics.https://www.spanishpodcast.net/ also comes twice a week with transcripts and a diversity of topics, but is more advanced.klvik: 15-20 minute podcasts on a variety of topics, including idioms, suitable for learners (A2-B1). It is worth a look just for its episodes about common idioms. Accurate transcripts are available on its website. Peninsular Spanish.http://spanishpodcast.org/ with transcripts which aims to help you to improve your Spanish.Español automático de Kara Martinez is for advanced students, who have a good passive knowledge and want to get fluent. For me (A2/B1 in listening) it is still too demanding. Length: 10 to 40 minutesFrom member klvik: VeinteMundos (http://www.veintemundos.com/) is an online cultural magazine (B1-B2) that produces ~10 minute episodes with accompanying transcriptions, grammatical highlights and videos. Most, but not all, of the content is from Latin America. Primarily Latin American Spanish.iguanamon: VeinteMundos is a vastly underutilized and free resource. The articles are downloadable in pdf format. Online some unfamiliar words and phrases have a "mouse-over" explanation/definition. Many articles have a choice between a LA voice or a Castillian. The archive/library has a ton of articles. The content is wide and varied. VideoELE (http://www.videoele.com/en/Curso_en.html). This small collection of videos (3-6 minutes) with transcripts and subtitles is a good resource for beginners (A1-A2) looking for material to supplement their coursework. Videos are classified by level (A1-B2) and grammatical structure. Peninsular and Latin American Spanish.From member klvik: Audioteka (http://audioteka.com/es/) has a pretty good collection of Spanish audiobooks and they offer a generously-sized free sample of each book.From member Systematiker:Algarabía Radio (MX, I think) http://algarabia.com/category/radio-2/: a culture program that looks at words, books, movies, music, history, or whatever else strikes them. They even say themselve that it is, in part, datos inútiles, but it's a lot of fun.Ayer, Hoy y Siempre (US-based, I think, so "standardized") http://www.paraelcamino.com/ayerarchivo.asp: a short drama, usually with a faith-based point. Same narrator, parts are voice-acted. Usually about 12 minutes long. (religious)Biblioteca básica (ES) http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/biblioteca-basica/: A short review of books modern and classic which are supposed to be the foundation of a common culture of readers. Usually 8-10 minutes long.A la aventura - Libros y lectura http://alaaventura.net/ A weekly book discussion, taken from contemporary and classic works. A discussion of plot followed by a "why you might like this book" and "why you might not like this book" section. Spoilers included, of necessity.LD Libros ES http://esradio.libertaddigital.com/ld-libros/ A weekly podcast discussing new books, usually accompanied by another episode that's an interview with an author. Mario Noya has a bad habit of mumbling away from the microphone, though. Usually about an hour, I think.From member SpoonaryNadie Sabe NadaA podcast based on improvisation, where Spanish comedians Andreu Buenafuente and Berto Romero react to questions and comments sent in to the Cadena Ser. I find this podcast very funny but it is definitely advanced stuff!Porque PodcastA quirky little podcast where a group of Spaniards give recommendations/examples of things based on the monthly 'porqué'/question. I haven't listened to it for a while but as I recall it was a fun listen. (ed: both found on ivoox.com)

Last edited by iguanamon on Sun Jan 01, 2017 8:24 pm, edited 8 times in total.

I just had my first skype conversation class with Nulengua. Some days ago i read about this site and their very interesting concept in an language log (I think thanks iguanamon), and decided to try it.

Now, after 55min of talking in spanish only, I'm totally exhausted. It was very hard for me, because the whole lesson was in spanish, but it was fun, too. My teacher was very nice. She asked a lot of questions to check my level and background and we had some little discussions about climate, foreign countries and moving to another culture. She corrected me when I used the wrong time or false words, and also gave me tips on my pronunciation and vocabulary. Most of the time I was speaking.This was a free trial lesson, but I want to continue; with ca. $10 per lesson it is not expensive.

First I wasn't sure, if my knowledge is sufficient, but it was OK. I believe that I can really profit of these speaking classes as speaking and reproduction in spanish is my weakest point.

First of all, I would like to commend iguanamon for taking the decisive steps necessary to get this group up and running. And kudos for the first post, which was clear and concise, and I feel presents exactly what we need in a group like this.

I think it would be a good idea to introduce ourselves and our 'relationship' with Spanish in these first few posts, but feel free to ignore this.

I have been in touch with Spanish for many years now. I started with 5 years of classes in secondary school, during which I loved the language, then went on to 2 years in college where I began to despise everything to do with it.

2 years later, I resolved to give Spanish another go and signed up for a 4 year university degree in Spanish Studies. After spending the first year getting over the bad times I had with Spanish, I started to see again the things that I used to really like about the language, found my stride and really began to connect with it.

By the time I went on my third year abroad in Santiago de Compostela, I had fallen in love with everything Spanish once again and went on to get a first class BA with a distinction in Spoken Spanish in my final year.

In the year and a half since that happened, I found myself a job and started to struggle to maintain consistent and worthwhile contact with Spanish, and as such, my level of fluency has reduced. Going forward, I really want to take steps to return to those glory days.

Sorry for the long post. I'll be looking forward to reading everyone else's stories if anyone else feels like sharing.

I started learning Spanish in fall 2015. As I often do with new hobbies, I threw myself into it and became fairly obsessive for maybe the first five or six months. During that time I learned thousands of words, made it three quarters of the way through "Spanish without Toil", and did parts of other courses. As the new hobby energy wound down and I moved on to new obsessions, I stopped studying Spanish altogether, but still maintained daily contact with the language, reading and listening at least a little every day.

Today, about fourteen months in, I am able to understand Spanish news stories on tv and newspapers. I read at least one or two news stories a day. I regularly watch "Al Punto" (a Sunday morning news and politics show) and understand nearly everything. I listen to very basic audiolibros in my car (eg, a Dan Brown novel) and follow the story. I have taken and passed several MOOCs in Spanish.

I'm currently reading a paper copy of "El Tunel" by Ernesto Sabato without a dictionary, and enjoying it very much. I'll post a book review in here when I finish.

My productive skills are basically nil. I have not practiced them at all. Hopefully next year I will start some Skype lessons and begin learning to actually speak the language.

Do you watch this online? If so, where? I'd like to watch this show, but have never been able to find the full episode anywhere online. Whenever I look it just has the various segments available and not the entire episode.

Do you watch this online? If so, where? I'd like to watch this show, but have never been able to find the full episode anywhere online. Whenever I look it just has the various segments available and not the entire episode.

I dvr it from the regular broadcast and watch one or two segments a day for the rest of the week. It's an excellent news magazine. It deals with topics of Latino interest from a US-centric perspective, for better or worse. Jorge Ramos is a very intelligent journalist, and his Spanish is easy to follow, unlike, say, Carlos Loret who speaks much faster and is a lot harder to understand.

I've been learning Spanish in a very off-and-on desultory fashion for a long time. After finding this group, I finally got serious and Made a Plan. I'm working through the Spanish Step-by-Step book, do a bunch of Memrise courses to improve my vocabulary, pretend to do Duolingo (I'll admit some day that I don't like it) and have a million other resources that I am slowly plugging through.

My favorite tv shows are the detective/mystery ones--Comisario Rex (which is a German series, shown here in Italian dubbed into Spanish) and several other ones. I also like the Dr. Vet Los Angeles series. My poor comprehension is still a major sticking point. Some days I'm humming along and some days I feel like I don't understand a word. So I just keep trying.